If It Isn't Love, It's Friendship
by Lily in a Pond
Summary: Celebrating the holidays with friends and lovers has never been so fun. SasuSaku, NaruHina, ShikaIno, and NejiTen.
1. Valentine's Day

If It Isn't Love, It's Friendship

By Lily in a Pond

Chapter One - Valentine's Day

Disclaimer: If I really owned Naruto, I would've made the characters change their clothes a long time ago…

A/N – This is my first Naruto story, so please tell me what you think about it. And also, I know Valentine's Day was last month, but I started writing this on Valentine's Day, but I never really thought of finishing it until today. So the theme is still Valentine's Day!

Furthermore, I'm pretending the whole Orochimaru-Sasuke thing didn't happen, so he's going to be blissfully ignorant of the fact that a weird, pale fifty-year-old wants his body...which sounds wrong in more ways than one.

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Valentine's Day had arrived in Konoha, and the Hidden Leaf Village was simply covered with shades of pink and red. Buildings were decorated with pink and red ribbons, flower petals were strewn on the sidewalks, and the delicate pinks of cherry blossom trees were visible for miles. Shops advertised bright signs adorned with hearts; the Yamanaka Flower Shop in particular had a sign in its display window reading "75 off all flower arrangements." Ichiraku Ramen, where Naruto Uzumaki was currently slurping down his fifth bowl of ramen, was offering a couple's special. The barbecue restaurant Team Ten frequented was offering one as well. Even the weapons store was holding a sale; it was also offering to gift-wrap purchases. People everywhere were scurrying around, holding beautifully wrapped packages near their chests, seeking out that special someone.

In the midst of this hullabaloo, four girls were sitting calmly on a bench outside the library, discussing their plans for Valentine's Day.

"I'm going to Sasuke-kun's house before anyone else gets there!" Ino Yamanaka declared, clutching an exquisitely wrapped present tightly. Sakura Haruno shot her a look.

"Well, I'm going to his house last, but I'm still going to get him before you, _Ino-pig_."

Ino brushed off the insult with a huff, but she secretly agreed. Sakura spent much more time with him, and she was his old teammate, so their relationship was more comfortable. Besides, there was that rumor going around Konoha a few weeks ago that Sasuke had exited a jewelry shop holding a long box in his hands and looking around suspiciously. When Ino had heard it, she immediately thought of Sakura; the other females in Sasuke's life were just acquaintances, not anyone too special. "So, what are you two doing today?" she asked Tenten and Hinata. Tenten shrugged.

"The same thing I did last year. I'll give the presents to Neji, Lee, and Gai-sensei, and then I'll be off sleeping in a tree somewhere."

"What about you, Hinata?"

Hinata blushed. "I-I'm going to give h-h-homemade chocolates and f-flowers to my f-friends and family," she stammered.

"Are you going to give chocolates and flowers to Naruto as well, or are you going to give him ramen instead?" Sakura asked slyly. Hinata's cheeks turned a cherry red.

Ino took pity on the poor girl. "_Anyway_, has anyone thought about the fact that we were all rejected last year?"

"That's a mean and untruthful thing to say, Ino, and besides, Neji didn't reject me!" Tenten protested. Sakura coughed loudly.

"Really? So, if you bought him that "gorgeous piece of metal that he had been drooling over for two months," and he practically fainted when he saw it, why aren't you two together?"

Tenten scowled. "You have a point there. Well, at least I didn't get my present tossed in the trash like yours."

"So, he didn't throw mine away?" Ino asked excitedly. 'Who cares if he probably liked Sakura?' she thought. It was Sasuke-kun, and that should be self-explanatory!

"Actually, I think he incinerated yours with his Grand Fireball technique," said Tenten. Ino's face fell.

"Hey, Hinata, what did Naruto say to you when you gave him the ramen last year?" Sakura asked. Hinata blushed.

"He j-just hugged m-me and said t-thank you."

Sakura, Ino, and Tenten sighed. "Idiot," they chorused.

Sakura checked her watch. "I've got to go now. I have to deliver a mound of gifts today – for Sasuke-kun, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, Tsunade-sama and Shizune-sama, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Shino, Lee, and Neji."

"Same here," Ino said, getting back. "I'll see you later!"

"This is the f-first year I'm going to d-d-deliver the homemade c-chocolates to m-my friends," Hinata said. "Do you think t-they'll like them?"

"I'm positive they will," Tenten reassured her. "How can anyone not like your cooking, Hinata? It's delicious!"

"The flowers m-might cause s-some trouble, too. I don't k-know how to g-g-give flowers to a b-boy and I'll p-probably f-faint or s-something like t-that."

Tenten laughed. "You just hand it to them, Hinata. Come on, how hard can it be? They're just flowers!"

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"What the heck is this poofy crap?"

Sakura sighed. "Naruto, they're called _flowers_."

Naruto Uzumaki stared curiously at the bright orange Tiger Lilies in Sakura's arms. "Are you supposed to eat them? Do they taste like ramen?"

Sakura desperately wanted to slap her forehead, but seeing as her hands were holding a box of chocolates and a bouquet of flowers, she settled for stomping her foot.

"No, Naruto, you put them in a vase – you do know what that is, right? – and get some water to make them last longer."

"They smell nice," Naruto observed, his nose twitching like a bunny.

"Yes, they do," Sakura agreed. "Now, the chocolate is edible, but I think you know that already."

"Of course I do!" Naruto exclaimed, taking the chocolate and flowers from Sakura's hands. "What do you think I am, _stupid_?"

Sakura stared at him. "Yes."

As she left the bridge, Naruto called, "Thank you, Sakura-chan! Hey, hey, hey, wait!"

Sakura turned around. "What?"

"Why are you giving flowers and candy to me on Valentine's Day, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, chewing on a caramel-filled chocolate. "Shouldn't you be giving them to Sasuke, the person you love?"

"Because you are my friend, Naruto," smiled Sakura. "And friends love each other as well."

Naruro stared at her for a moment. "Here," he said a moment later, handing her a bouquet of pink roses from his orange-black jumpsuit. "Friends give presents to each other. Happy Valentine's Day, Sakura."

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"Chouji! Chouji, where are you?" Ino called, looking around Team Ten's training area.

"What's up, Ino?" Chouji emerged from the woods holding a bag of potato chips.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Chouji," Ino said cheerfully. "In addition to these flowers and chocolates, I've also included ten passes to 'Maito Gai's Super-Youthful Workout Sessions.' Gai told me himself that after going to just one class, you'd be fit as……well, fit as himself, actually."

Chouji groaned. "Can I just give the passes away?"

"No!" Ino snapped. "I worked really hard to get those, you know! Ordinary people don't get admission to 'Maito Gai's Super-Youthful Workout Sessions,' only the _elite_ do!"

Chouji grumbled. "I'm only doing this because I'm your friend, Ino," he said grumpily, taking the slips of paper.

Ino grinned. "You'll be in perfect shape in no time! Then, we'll have a nice heart-to-heart about finding a girlfriend for you!" She skipped happily off, leaving Chouji holding the passes, chocolate, and flowers.

Chouji looked at the chocolates and sighed. "Well, I better get started on these…I suppose I won't be eating chocolate for a long time."

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"Flowers for us, Hinata? Thanks!"

Hinata smiled nervously at Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame. "Valentine's Day isn't j-just for l-l-lovers, it's for f-friends as w-well. And t-there's another present in h-hidden in the f-flowers for you, Akamaru."

Akamaru barked happily and dived enthusiastically into the arrangement of bluebells and posies in Kiba's arms. He emerged a few moments later with a squeaky rubber squirrel.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan," Shino said quietly, taking the flowers and chocolates Hinata handed him. Hinata smiled.

"I'm h-happy to have you as my f-f-friend, Shino-kun. You, too, Kiba-kun. You've always p-protected me and h-helped m-me. The f-flowers and c-chocolates were the l-least I could do," Hinata stammered, bowing her head.

Kiba grinned. "Aw, you're making me teary, Hinata! You're the nicest girl in the world!" he shouted, surprising Hinata with a hug.

Shino quickly turned away, but it was too late. Kiba had already caught the corner of Shino's sleeve and was now dragging him over to Hinata. "Group hug!"

Shino scowled darkly as he was squeezed within an inch of his life. "If I weren't friends with you two, I would've ordered my bugs to kill you."

"Don't ruin the moment, Shino."

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"Chocolates and flowers for me, Tenten? THANK YOU!"

Tenten grimaced at Lee's voice pitch. "You're welcome, Lee."

"Shouldn't you be giving these youthful chocolates and flowers to Neji?" Lee asked, a sneaky grin creeping onto his face. The grin, paired with his abundance of eyebrow, was enough to make Tenten step away from Lee.

"Why does everyone assume I am madly in love with Neji?" Tenten sighed. "Just because we train together doesn't mean we're going to tie the knot soon!"

Lee waggled his thick eyebrows. "You know, I've always wondered what you and Neji do while you're…_training_."

Tenten hit him over the head. "Idiot! We just train!"

Lee rubbed his head, where a large bump was peeking out. "I still think you love Neji."

"I don't."

"Yes, you don't."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do!" Lee raised his voice.

"No, I don't!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

_"Yes!"_

_"No!"_

"YES, YOU DO! TENTEN, YOU LOVE HYUUGA NEJI!"

Tenten glared at him. "Thanks a lot, Lee, I'm sure a random person in Suna didn't _quite_ hear that."

In Suna…

"Tenten loves Hyuuga Neji!" Temari exclaimed, bursting into Kankuro's room. Kankuro yawned.

"Eh...what else is new?"

Back in Konoha…

"Do not say that ever again, because if you do, I will come after you in the dead of night and stab you repeatedly with all the weapons in my arsenal!" And then, to add insult to injury, Tenten added, "Plus, I think you killed a few a squirrels' ears with that shout."

Lee gasped. "You are right, Tenten! My poor youthful squirrels! I am so sorry I had disabled your youthful hearing! Oh! I shall pick up three hundred acorns for you and afterwards, I shall six hundred laps around Konoha as punishment for my misdeed!" He then proceeded to scamper off into the woods.

"I'll just leave the presents here, Lee! By the way, Happy Valentine's Day!" Tenten called. As she left the training grounds, Tenten smiled, hearing the rustling of bushes and trees.

"It's fun having a friend like you."

----------

The sun was setting, and Sakura rubbed her back as she rang the doorbell of a large house that was designed in a simple, yet elegant way. The pink-haired kunoichi had spent all day running around Konoha, giving her flowers and chocolates to the important people in her life. And now, she was standing on the doorstep of the man who would always come first.

"I was beginning to wonder when you'd come by, Sakura."

Sakura smiled as she looked into the deep onyx eyes of Sasuke Uchiha. "I saved the best for last."

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"Shikamaru? Where the hell are you, you lazy bum!"

Shikamaru Nara groaned and rolled over in his bed. 'Can't Ino let me be lazy for just one day?' he wondered. 'Or was that entirely too much to ask for?'

"Ha! I found you, Shikamaru!" Ino's triumphant voice reverberated through his bedroom. Shikamaru groaned again and pulled the covers over his head.

"It's five in the afternoon, you bum! Get out of bed! I want to give something to you!"

"This is so troublesome," Shikamaru muttered as he lifted the covers an inch and saw Ino's scowling face.

"Come on, come on, come on, I worked really hard on this!" Ino whined, bouncing up and down on the soles of her feet.

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome," he muttered, but got up anyway. "Okay, what do you want to give me, Ino?"

Ino shoved a stuffed deer in his hands – or rather, a stuffed deer that looked like it had gotten into a fight with a kunai and lost horribly – and yelled, "Happy Valentine's Day, Shikamaru!" in Shikamaru's ear.

Shikamaru stared at the deer. "…It's a deer," he finally said.

"I know!" Ino exclaimed. "Isn't it the _best _deer you've ever seen?"

Shikamaru looked at her apprehensively. "Um…yeah?" he said hesitantly. Ino's smile disappeared.

"So you've seen better?" she demanded. Shikamaru sighed.

"This has got to be the most troublesome predicament I've gotten myself into."

Ino cracked her knuckles. "Well, Shikamaru…tell me who is the mysterious person that made the best stuffed deer you've ever seen! Tell me, or else you're going down!"

Shikamaru inched towards the door, but Ino tackled him to the ground. "You bastard! I spent hours making this for you as a Valentine's Day gift, and then you go and tell me it isn't the best deer you've ever seen! You idiot!" Ino screamed, pounding Shikamaru into a pulp.

Shikamaru groaned as the blows started to bruise. "This is so troublesome."

While a murder was happening at the Nara house, Naruto was happily finishing off his seventh bowl of ramen at Ichiraku Ramen.

"Another bowl of pork ramen, please!" he yelled, after slurping down the last of his soup.

"N-n-naruto-kun."

Naruto turned around. "Hinata-chan? What are you doing here?"

Hinata looked down at her shoes. "Well…you s-see, I was…I w-was..."

Naruto squinted. 'What is she trying to say?' he wondered.

"Um…h-here." Hinata thrust a flat package wrapped in blue in his hands.

"Eh? What's this?" Naruto asked, scratching his head. He put down his chopsticks, a grin slowly creeping onto his face. "A Valentine's Day gift for me? Aw, Hinata, you shouldn't have!"

"O-open it, N-naruto-kun."

Naruto eagerly ripped the blue paper off and nearly fainted when he read the words "You are invited to attend the Ramen Festival in Ramen Country on Saturday, May 9th. Black tie required," printed on two embossed sheets of paper. "This is the best day of my life!" he yelled, jumping up and down. "How did you know I have been dying for an invite to the Ramen Festival for years?"

Hinata hid her smile behind her hand. "I'm g-glad you like it." And then, to her shock, Naruto tackled Hinata to the ground in a fierce hug.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

Hinata could feel a rosy blush heating her cheeks. She smiled as she felt Naruto's heart beat frantically against her chest, and wondered if he knew hers was beating twice as fast.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Naruto-kun."

----------

"Neji! I know you're in your room and pretending you can't hear me! Just come out already, I have something I want to give you!"

There was no reply. Tenten sighed and leaned against the fragile door. "Come on, Hyuuga. For once, enjoy love."

The door slid open. "I was meditating, Tenten," came Neji's steely voice.

"Were you actually meditating, or were you doing_ your_ definition of meditating?"

"Do you see any broken objects? No, I was actually mediating."

Tenten grinned. "Great! Now that you're calm…HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!" she yelled in Neji's ear.

Hanabi Hyuuga appeared behind Tenten and scowled at her. "Can you two keep it down? Some people are trying to sleep."

"At five in the afternoon?" Tenten asked skeptically. Hanabi glared at her with her pale eyes.

"Yes. But you interrupted my sleep. So troublesome," she muttered, and left without a second glance.

Tenten glared at Neji. "Neji! What are you doing to your cousin? At this rate, she's going to grow up to be a female version of Shikamaru!"

Neji crossed his arms. "So what did you want to give me?" he asked, abruptly changing the subject.

Tenten blushed. "Well…you know how last year I gave you that katana?" Neji nodded, his eyes glazing over. "Well…I'm not giving you a weapon this year." Neji's eyes widened a little, but that was the only indication he was surprised.

"Why not?"

Tenten sighed. "It's a really stupid reason…see, Ino signed Sakura, Hinata, and I up for a sewing class three months ago, and I really liked it. Sakura and Hinata decided to drop the class because they were just too good at it, but I stayed because I wanted to learn to make something special for…Anyway, I got pretty good at sewing over the past few months, so I made you this." She hesitantly took out a stuffed bird and placed it in Neji's hands. Neji didn't say anything; he just looked at it.

"Well…I'll see you tomorrow, I guess."

"Watching clouds is fun when I'm with you."

Tenten stopped dead in her tracks.

"Watching clouds is fun when I'm with you," the electronic voice repeated.

"Oh, no!" she shrieked, turning around and stabbing the bird repeatedly with a senbon she pulled out of her hair. "I forgot to switch the chips! Now Ino has "Take my hand when you fly" and I have this stupid piece of crap that was supposed to be Shikamaru's!"

"Take my hand when you fly? That's…original," Neji said, coming up behind Tenten without a sound. "I appreciate the thought, Tenten, but…" Tenten closed her eyes. 'This was it', she thought. 'Rejected again.' "Tsunade-sama and the elders have voted to abolish the Main and Branch families of Hyuuga, and I'm already flying, Tenten. But you're not holding my hand," he breathed, making the hairs on the back of her stand up on edge.

"Neji…" she whispered, turning around abruptly and staring into his eyes for any sign that he was playing a joke on her. There were none. "You…you…congratulations, Neji. You really deserve it. Now you really have everything you want."

"Tenten, I'm serious about this. I want you to be with me."

Tenten closed her gaping mouth. "I…I…DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT, YOU BASTARD!" she screamed. "YOU MADE ME THINK THAT I WAS GETTING REJECTED AGAIN LIKE LAST YEAR WITH THAT TRADEMARK LOOK OF YOURS AND – "

"I didn't reject you last year," Neji said. Tenten stopped rambling.

"What?"

"I didn't reject you last year," he repeated. "Didn't Hanabi give you the note?"

"No…"

"Hanabi! Get in here!" Neji barked.

"What is it? You disturbed my sleep again…" mumbled Hanabi, rubbing her eyes.

"Hanabi," Neji stated in a tone that sounded much too calm to be actually calm. "Did you give Tenten the note I told you to hand-deliver to her last year?"

Hanabi yawned. "Eh…it was too troublesome to walk the way to her house, so I gave it to Hinata to deliver it. I think she lost it when that troublesome wannabe-Hokage guy came over to our house."

Neji almost slapped his forehead. "You two failed to deliver that special note because of laziness and _Naruto_!?"

Hanabi nodded. "This is so troublesome. Can I go back to sleep now?"

"No!" Neji yelled. "That was very special! It had all my secret feelings written down on it! That note could be in anyone's hands right now!"

Somewhere in Suna…

"Hey, Temari, where's that note you found in Konoha last year?" Kankuro asked his sister. "I want to read it again – that Hyuuga pretty-boy is just too funny when he's trying to confess to a girl!"

Back in Konoha…

"Do you understand the consequences of your laziness, Hanabi?" Neji calmly shouted.

Hanabi yawned. "Yeah, whatever. You two are so troublesome…I'm going to go watch the clouds now. Tell Father I'll be back for dinner. Dinner, what a troublesome thing…" she muttered as she walked down the hallway.

Neji and Tenten stared in shock at Hanabi's retreating back. "No one has dared to walk away from me before," Neji hissed, his hands balling into fists.

"Seriously, what have you guys been feeding her? Laziness, the overuse of the word 'troublesome,' and cloud-watching!? She's not going to turn into Shikamaru, she's _already _Shikamaru!" As Tenten continued to rant on about cruel families forcing drugs hidden in food on their children and behavior changes, Neji rubbed his temples.

"Tenten. Shut up."

Tenten blinked. "No. Anyway, you have to give her vegetables and milk and – " She was suddenly interrupted when Neji leaned over and kissed her. There was silence for a few seconds as Tenten slowly recovered from the initial shock and started kissing Neji back.

"It's nice and quiet again," he murmured as they broke apart from the kiss. Tenten laughed softly, but it turned into a gasp as Neji took out a large bouquet of flowers and chocolate from inside his traditional Hyuuga robes.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Tenten," he whispered, and kissed her again.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Neji," she mumbled against his soft lips and smiled softly. "I love you"

"I love you, too."

----------

"Thank you for the flowers and chocolates," Sasuke said quietly.

"You're welcome. But there's still another thing that I want to give you," said Sakura, reaching into her bag for the last present. She handed it to Sasuke silently, blushing slightly.

Sasuke unwrapped it. "It's a…shuriken."

"It's not just any shuriken. It has the Uchiha clan symbol carved into it, and when thrown, it splits into many little replicas of the shuriken. It'll be like a hundred little Uchihas flying all over the place."

Sasuke said nothing, but Sakura could tell from the way the corners of his eyes were softened he was pleased.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Sasuke-kun." As Sakura turned to leave, a hand caught her arm abruptly.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me, Sasuke. You're my friend and friends give special presents to each other."

Sasuke smiled, a tiny smile, but a real smile nevertheless. Sakura smiled back, and there they stood, with the sunset casting a warm glow over Sasuke's pale skin and causing the pink in Sakura's hair to glimmer.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Sakura," Sasuke said as he gently placed a long, thin box in Sakura's hand. "Open it," he said dispassionately, but there was something in his eyes that hinted he felt otherwise.

"Oh, my god, Sasuke-kun, this must've cost a fortune!" Sakura exclaimed as she held a long gold chain with a flower made of pink pearls and diamonds dangling off the edges.

"Hn."

"Thank you!" Sakura shrieked, engulfing Sasuke in a tight hug. He immediately stiffened, but surprisingly, he didn't push her away like he used to. "But why – "

" – Friends give special presents to each other. You're my friend, Sakura."

"...Friends..." Sakura repeated, moving closer to Sasuke. "Friends."

----------

"By the way, Shikamaru, did you get me anything?" Ino asked curiously as she watched Shikamaru carefully place the stuffed deer on his nightstand. Shikamaru sighed.

"I was thinking of getting you flowers, but then I remembered your family owns a flower shop. And going on a long and tiring journey to find you a rare and unknown flower was too troublesome of an idea, nevermind the actual journey. I don't have enough money to buy you the kind of jewelry you like, and making things are just too troublesome for me. Making a card was too troublesome as well and – "

"So basically everything was too troublesome for you?"

Shikamaru nodded. Ino sighed. "Idiot."

"Well, actually, there's one thing that's not too troublesome, but I don't think you would like it," Shikamaru said nervously, stuffing his hands in his pajama pockets. Ino's eyes lit up.

"Ooh, ooh! What is it?"

Shikamaru looked even more nervous; he even started fidgeting with his earring. "Um…well……kissing you wouldn't be too troublesome," he finished in a low whisper.

Ino's jaw dropped. "What?"

Shikamaru turned away from her. "Nothing, can you leave, I really want to get some sleep – "

"Kissing is never troublesome for me!" Ino declared as she tackled Shikamaru to the ground again. Amidst the scuffles and……inappropriate sounds emitted, one rang clear.

"Take my hand when you fly," the stuffed deer said cheerfully from its spot on the floor after Ino had knocked it off Shikamaru's nightstand when she had accidentally brushed against it tackling Shikamaru to the floor. Ino and Shikamaru were surprised, but then Ino realized what must've happened when she and Tenten were assembling the chips. "Oh, shut up, you stupid piece of crap," Ino said crossly as she kicked the deer under Shikamaru's bed. "Happy Valentine's Day, Shikamaru," she mumbled through kisses. Shikamaru mumbled something incoherent in reply, but Ino didn't care what he said, as long it wasn't 'troublesome.'

"Happy Valentine's Day."

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A/N – So…criticism? Suggestions? Anything? Please review and tell me what you think of the story.

Thanks for reading!

-Lily in a Pond


	2. The Ramen Festival

If It Isn't Love, It's Friendship

By Lily in a Pond

Chapter Two - The Ramen Festival

A/N – Hey, it's me again…writing another crappy Naruto oneshot. Anyway, I had a lot of fun with the first one so I decided to give it another try. Then inspiration (not really, just a basketball) struck me and I suddenly came up with a great (or perhaps not so great) idea! The last chapter revolved around Valentine's Day, and there aren't many official and well-known holidays from then. So I decided to make up my own! The Ramen Festival, as you intelligent monkeys out there guessed, is about Naruto and his friends going to the Ramen Festival in Ramen Country.

P.S. Sorry in advance if this chapter sucks.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…isn't that enough?! Stop badgering me!!!

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It was a quiet April day in Konoha. A fine dew was shining on the flowers, and the trees were swaying softly with the morning breeze. One particular lazy ninja opened one eye, saw a terribly misshapen stuffed deer, smiled slightly, and went back to sleep. The maker of the aforementioned deer was sound asleep in her bed as well, hugging her lavender pillow and drooling on it. Another maker of a stuffed animal was sitting up in bed, polishing her abundance of shuriken. The owner of that stuffed animal was awake as well, watching Saturday morning cartoons on the pretext he was meditating. His relative was bustling around the garden, gathering a bouquet of flowers for her beloved.

Her beloved was, at the moment, screaming his head off.

"THE RAMEN FESTIVAL IS TODAY! THE RAMEN FESTIVAL IS TODAY! THE RAMEN FESTIVAL IS TODAY!"

"Shut up!" a villager yelled, sticking his head out the window and making a rather inappropriate hand gesture.

"I WILL NOT! AND YOU KNOW WHY? IT'S BECAUSE THE RAMEN FESTIVAL IS TODAY!" Naruto Uzumaki yelled back, slamming his window shut, making the same hand gesture at the man, and pulling the curtains down so he could change into his regular orange-and-black outfit. As he passed his mirror, he stopped for a moment and gave himself the thumbs up.

"You rock, Naruto! This is your big day! This is the day………the day of the RAMEN FESTIVAL!" It was noted in the Godaime's records that the last two words had been heard all around Konoha and that some squirrels had gone partially deaf because of the voice volume.

Locking his door behind him, Naruto turned around and immediately knocked into Sakura Haruno, his former teammate.

"Naruto! Watch where you're going!" Sakura yelled, bending down to pick up the groceries she had dropped when Naruto had bumped into her.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan, but today is such a special day!" Naruto exclaimed happily, bouncing on the soles of his feet.

"And what day would that be? It's just another day in April, last I checked," Sakura replied, shifting the bag from one arm to another.

"Just another day in April?" Naruto gasped, slumping against the telephone pole dramatically. "Today is the Ramen Festival! Me and Hinata are going to Ramen Country to participate in the legendary Ramen Festival!"

Sakura's jaw and groceries hit the floor. "There's an actual place called Ramen Country? And you're going there with Hinata to celebrate the Ramen Festival? And Hinata agreed to go with you willingly?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "Actually, Hinata-chan was the one who gave me the two invites to the Ramen Festival. She gave it to me for Valentine's Day!" he announced, puffing his chest out proudly. "Hey………you never told me what you got Sasuke for Valentine's Day…"

"I'm not telling, because it was really cheesy," Sakura replied, smirking at the disappointed look on Naruto's face. "Anyway……hey, shouldn't you be over at Hinata's house already to pick her up if you guys are going there together?"

Naruto looked confused. "Why should I do that?"

Sakura sighed. "Just do it."

Naruto shrugged, but started walking towards the imposing figure of the Hyuuga compound. "Wait, Sakura-chan, don't you want to go there, too?"

"No," Sakura replied flatly. "Besides, don't you have two tickets? If I go, Hinata won't be able to go."

"That's right," Naruto said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. A sneaky look appeared on his face a moment later. "Would you come if I told you others could come along? Others such as…hmm, I don't know……perhaps…………_Sasuke_?"

Sakura's face turned a bright red. "Eh – "

"Oh, and you could bring Ino along, too, with Shikamaru, those two are really entertaining together, ooh, and Hyuuga Neji and that weapons girl who's probably already engaged to him, and – "

"You only have two tickets, Naruto," Sakura reminded him. "Even if they go, how are you going to get eight _legitimate_ tickets to the Ramen Festival?"

Naruto's grin escalated even more. "My plan is twofold, dear Sakura-chan. I'll just simply make Shadow Replications of the tickets. The Ramen Festival isn't usually a ninja thing…they won't check to see if the tickets have been tampered with."

Sakura contemplated this for a moment. "Well…I suppose all of us going on a trip would be fun, even if we were going to the Ramen Festival," she admitted. "But only if you promise Sasuke-kun is coming along!" Naruto nodded fervently. "And not a word about this copying thing to anyone, Naruto! And don't even think of mentioning my name along with it!"

"Done, done, and finished," Naruto smirked. "Now…all we need to do is to find six people who have no idea their lives are about to be turned upside down……"

Sakura smacked him around the head. "Idiot, stop making it sound like a soap opera, Naruto!"

Naruto simply grinned. Then he continued walking over to the Hyuuga compound. "This is just too perfect! With Sasuke and Sakura surrounded by two couples, they won't have a chance at resisting their feelings!"

Passersby gave Naruto frightened looks at he passed them, cackling manically.

----------

"Please, please, please, please, please, _please_ go!" Naruto begged, staring imploringly into the black eyes of Sasuke Uchiha. The dark-haired teenager snorted.

"The Ramen Festival? You have got to be joking."

Naruto frowned. "Come on…what have you got to lose?"

"My pride and dignity," Sasuke snapped. "If people in Ramen Country, if that's even a real place, know I'm there, they'll talk and then the word will get out that Sasuke Uchiha has attended the stupidest festival ever created! My reputation will be destroyed! The _Uchiha _reputation will be destroyed!"

Naruto stared at him. "…I think that might be the longest sentence you've ever said."

Sasuke stared back at him. Silence commenced for a few minutes, then Sakura arrived at Team Seven's old training grounds.

"Are you two having another staring contest? Naruto, you know Sasuke's going to win, and Sasuke-kun, there's no point in challenging Naruto, you know he's going to lose."

Sasuke and Naruto's gazes snapped onto Sakura. "WHAT?"

Sakura shook her head. "Never mind. So, Sasuke-kun, are you going to the Ramen Festival?"

"You're going?" Sasuke asked, disbelief evident in his voice. "Why?"

Sakura shrugged. "Because a special someone is going there as well, and I want to be with him…"

Sasuke's eyes popped wide open as Naruto gaped.

"Wha…?"

"Close your mouth, Naruto; flies will get in there. And yes, Sasuke, there's someone I'm interested in who's going to the Ramen Festival as well. So, naturally, I'm going there."

Sasuke clenched his jaw. "Alright, I'll go to the stupid festival." As he stalked off, flames nearly shooting out from all areas of his body, Sakura smiled triumphantly and Naruto cocked his head, confused.

"What just happened? I thought you liked Sasuke, Sakura-chan…"

"I do like Sasuke-kun, you idiot! That was to evoke his natural curiosity and make him come along with us!"

The glimmer appeared in Naruto's eyes. "Ah, I see it now! Not only have you managed to get Sasuke to come along, you've also made him into a raving, disturbed, super-jealous monster! You are so smart, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura fluffed her hair prettily. "I know."

----------

"And why do you think I want to go to a _Ramen _Festival?" Neji Hyuuga asked scornfully, his voice laced with spite. He stopped polishing his katana for a moment and looked inquisitively at Naruto.

"Because Tenten's going to be there," Naruto said, a sneaky grin appearing on his face. Neji contemplated this for a moment.

"Fine, I'll go. But only if you promise I can express my deep emotions of anger and frustration while there."

"I promise," Naruto solemnly said. "Now go! Pack your things!"

----------

Tenten twirled a kunai around with her fingers. "And why do you think I want to go to a _Ramen _Festival?" she asked scornfully, her voice laced with spite. Naruto gaped.

"Maybe you and Neji really are soul mates," he muttered. He yelped when ten senbon came flying out of nowhere and pinned him to the wall.

"Did you say something?" Tenten asked. Naruto nervously shook his head.

"No, ma'am! Wait, I mean, yes! I said that Neji's going to be there!"

Tenten's face suddenly became impassive. "Fine, I'll go," she muttered. "But only if you promise I can express my deep emotions of anger and frustration while there."

Naruto blinked. "Okay, this is starting to creep me out."

----------

Sakura peered into the shiny glass window of the Yamanaka Flower Shop and grinned when she saw Ino at the counter, talking with Shikamaru, their heads close together.

"Ino-pig!" she yelled, striding into the shop confidently. Shikamaru and Ino immediately jumped away from each other.

"What do you want, forehead girl?"

"Do you two want to go to the Ramen Festival?" Sakura asked, holding out the tickets.

Ino raised her eyebrows. "The Ramen Festival? I had no idea such a thing existed." Shikamaru yawned and nodded sleepily.

"It's too troublesome."

Ino nodded. "For once, Shikamaru is right. It would be too bothersome to hire someone else to take care of the shop while I'm gone since Dad's on a mission with Shikaku and Choza," said Ino, shaking her head.

"Well, alright…are you sure you don't want to go, Shikamaru? I heard Neji's bringing his Shogi board…" Sakura said slyly. Shikamaru looked tempted.

"Well…I suppose. Shogi isn't too troublesome, I guess," Shikamaru said lazily, yawning again.

Sakura smiled. "Then it'll be perfect! Oh, and since you're not going, Ino, I'll just have to give your invite to Temari; I hear - "

"NO!" Ino shrieked. Shikamaru's eyeballs swiveled in her direction. "I mean, no, I _will _go. Just give me five minutes, Sakura. I need to make a phone call to Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon."

Sakura grinned triumphantly. "Well…won't this trip just be a breeze, then? You, me, Ino, five more make eight?"

"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed.

----------

"How the heck did you get all your travel supplies and six pairs of Hyuuga robes stuffed in that tiny knapsack?" Tenten asked incredulously. Neji shrugged.

"They're made of a lightweight and compressible material."

"I suppose, but I only packed one pair of pants and two shirts and that's already more than enough for my sack! How did you do it?"

"You packed six pairs of robes, Hyuuga, for a three-day trip?" Sasuke sneered. "I see someone's overly obsessed with sanitation." Sakura, next to him, giggled.

"Sasuke-kun, I packed a lot of clothes, too. I also brought my swimsuit and an evening kimono just in case!"

"Just in case of what?" Sasuke asked spitefully. "In case the person you're so interested in asks you on a date in the middle of the forest?"

"In case the person I'm so interested in asks me on a date while we're in _Ramen Country_!" Sakura snapped. "And why are you so curious about this person anyway? It's not you're _jealous_," she added slyly.

Sasuke scowled and looked away. "Hn."

Ino looked on with interest. "I give those two one day before one of them cracks and makes the first move," she said to Shikamaru. He shrugged. "I guess Sasuke-kun's fan club is going to commit mass suicide when they hear of this…"

Shikamaru yawned. "Suicide is troublesome, but it does rid you of your troublesome life."

"Can you do anything but yawn and say 'troublesome', Shikamaru?" Ino asked. "You're more of a pig than me; all you want to do is sleep in and be lazy!"

Shikamaru grinned. "You got me down verbatim, Ino."

Near the tall, leafy trees, Hinata giggled at their antics. Watching three arguing couples was entertaining. She wished she and Naruto were a couple; they would have so much fun together, she thought wistfully.

"Hey, Hinata!" Naruto called, right on cue. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"S-sure, N-naruto-kun," she stammered.

"Hinata-chan…um…I just wanted to thank you again for giving me those tickets," Naruto rushed out. "Um…well, I've wanted to go to the Ramen Festival my entire life, and you probably have no idea how much this means to me! You're really someone special, Hinata-chan! Believe it!" he finished enthusiastically, flashing a toothy grin and giving Hinata two thumbs up, Gai's signature 'good guy' pose.

Hinata blushed from the tips of her shiny hair to her toes. "N-no, you don't h-have to thank m-me, Naruto-kun. You d-d-deserve n-nice things."

Naruto's grin escalated and he put an arm casually around Hinata's shoulders as they walked back to the training area where they'd all agreed to meet. "Aw, Hinata, you're always so nice!"

----------

While jumping from one tree branch to another, Sakura cursed loudly. The others looked at her in alarm.

"I forgot to tell Tsunade we're going away for the weekend!" she cried, slamming her fist into a tree trunk. The tree swayed dangerously before regaining its balance.

"Oh, crap," Shikamaru muttered. "She's not going to be very charitable to me on Monday. And I wanted to get a day off, too……how troublesome…"

"She's not going to be pleased at me either," Neji scowled. "And I'm supposed to be the responsible one."

"I thought _I _was the responsible one," Tenten interjected. Neji cocked an eyebrow.

"So where does planning Lee's entire birthday party and failing to tell him where it was fit into the category of responsible? Or what about the time you were supposed to buy snacks for us and instead brought poison samples from the hospital? Or what about the time we were with Kakashi at Tea Country, and you fell asleep during guard duty, causing the absorption of the tea to render you unconscious for three days?" Neji was prepared to rattle off more, but Tenten scowled.

"Okay, one, Lee's speed is too fast; I couldn't find him anywhere because he was constantly moving around Konoha! Two, the poison was packaged, so it looked like individual snacks! Three, Kakashi was suppose to relieve me of guard duty, but he claimed he - "

" - Got lost on the road of life, so he just _had _to embark on the wonderful journey of finding his true path?" Sasuke interrupted.

" - Was distracted by a house on fire with two elderly women in it, so, naturally, he _had_ to save them?" Sakura asked.

" - Saw a young woman with bruises and cuts all over her body, so he _had _to take her to the hospital, which was closed, so he _had _to take her to Granny Tsunade, who was passed out from drinking so much sake, so he _had_ to take her to Sakura-chan, but she was on a mission, so he _had _to heal her himself, which took a long while since he was inexperienced at medical jutsus, so he messed up her body so badly she died, so he _had _to go back to Konoha and bury her in the cemetery where his father was buried, which evoked tears and many other emotions from him, which caused him to get tissues from the most expensive tissue shop in Japan, which is in Wave Country, so he had to travel there?" Naruto said in one breath.

Tenten stared at the three in surprise and disbelief. "No, he just said he received the newest edition of Icha Icha Paradise from Jiraiya-sama."

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke's mouths dropped open in a comical fashion. "Well," Sakura said, recovering from the shock. "it looks like Kakashi-sensei has finally told a truth!"

"Amazing," Naruto mumbled, eyes spinning out of focus. "Simply amazing."

----------

"Neji, how far is Ramen Country?" Tenten asked. She was starting to get heavily winded. It wasn't surprising, they had been traveling nonstop for five hours now.

Neji activated his Byakugan. "Only fifty more miles, Tenten. We should keep on going."

Tenten sighed. "Fifty more," she repeated tiredly. Thankfully, Ino spoke up at that point and voiced her thoughts.

"Let's stop here. I'm tired and, more importantly, my hair is a mess," she complained.

"Stop whining, Ino. I was tired two hours ago, but did you see me complaining?" scoffed Shikamaru.

"Actually, I'm getting pretty tired as well," Sakura spoke up. "Seriously, Neji, you can't expect us to travel four hundred miles in five hours."

"I expect myself to," was his cool reply. Sakura rolled her eyes. Typical Neji and his superiority complex.

"Hey, let's stop here," Naruto said, pointing to a clearing in a patch of trees. "It's pretty clear the girls and Shikamaru need to rest, and we don't want anyone to be injured, because then they'd miss out the Ramen Festival!" he exclaimed.

Sakura and Ino looked at each other. "Well, if you put it that way - "

" - No worries, Naruto, let's go!"

Shikamaru groaned and caught the two of them with his shadow. "Getting hurt is not a wise decision . Plus, Tsunade-sama won't be too pleased that you managed to add 'injured while on unclassified trip to Ramen Country' to your record."

Sakura and Ino sighed. "Fine. I hate it when you're right, you bum," Ino added. Shikamaru grinned.

"Hey, remember what happened the last time you called me a bum?" Ino turned bright red, and immediately dropped down gracefully to the forest floor. Shikamaru followed, chuckling.

----------

"WE'RE HERE!" Naruto announced loudly. "RAMEN COUNTRY, SAY HELLO TO UZUMAKI NARUTO!"

Sakura covered her eyes. "Naruto…" she growled menacingly.

"RAMEN, RAMEN, RAMEN, RAMEN!" Naruto sang, dancing gleefully around in a circle. He grabbed Hinata's hands. "Come on, let's go celebrate!"

Sasuke stared him down. "I would prefer not to."

"Let's go change into cleaner clothes first, then we'll celebrate, okay, Naruto?" Without waiting for an answer, Sakura turned on her heel and started walking towards the nearest bathhouse. Ino and Tenten shrugged and followed.

"Um…I g-guess I'll go, t-too," Hinata mumbled, scurrying after them.

Naruto groaned. "Why do girls always gang up against me?"

----------

"Are you really going to wear that, Tenten? Even though it's a ramen festival, people are going to see you like that!" Ino yelled, trying to force a silky lavender shirt over Tenten's head. Tenten swatted Ino's hands away.

"You can't hide weapons in that," she said stubbornly.

"Who cares? There won't be any need for weapons!"

Tenten's eyes blazed, reminding Ino of Rock Lee in his 'flames of youth' mode. "There is always a need for weapons!" she screeched.

"Hey, what - WHOA!" Sakura exclaimed, ducking just in time. She shuddered, hearing the dull _thunk_ of metal hitting wood. Tenten winced.

"Sorry."

"It's alright," Sakura said, straightening her green kimono. Ino stopped wrestling with Tenten over the shirt as she saw Sakura's sparkling kimono. Sparkling, which in this case, was used literally.

"Whoa, Sakura…is that the kimono you were talking about?" Sakura nodded and smoothed down the front of the glittering, fashionably embellished kimono. Little sparkles floating around her hair caught the light and glistened even more.

"That's the one."

"The one you were saving up for three months?"

Tenten's jaw dropped. "Three months? Do you know how many shurikens you can buy with that money?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm glad I bought this. It's a really good eye-catcher. Literally," she finished, giggling softly. Ino smirked.

"Well, we all know who's eye is going to be caught tonight, don't we?"

"Shut up, Ino-pig," Sakura snapped, but she was blushing. "Hey, where's Hinata?"

"She said something about going there with Naruto early," Tenten replied, carefully attaching twenty or so senbon to four glittery hair clips, which she put in her shiny brown hair a moment later. "See, Ino? I am being girly. My hair clips sparkle!"

"And your body clunks whenever it moves," Ino added. She fluffed her hair and smoothed down the front of her purple kimono. "Unlike mine, which has the grace and elegance like a cat."

Sakura dissolved into a fit of coughing. "Cat - " she choked, laughing. " - more - like - pig!"

Ino scowled. "Too bad all those sparkles on your kimono won't distract anyone from your _forehead_."

Tenten sighed, and stepped between the sparks of anger emitting from Sakura and Ino. "Let's just go before I get caught up in the middle again. I swear, if that happens again, you'll be facing the wrath of my katana."

Ino and Sakura stared at her in shock. "How'd you manage to conceal that?"

Tenten just grinned sneakily and left the room, cackling evilly.

----------

"You stupid slacker, why didn't you change into something nicer?" Ino repeatedly hit Shikamaru over the head. Shikamaru hadn't even bothered to change, he was still in his regular clothes and Chuunin vest. "Now we're going to look stupid, because one half is dressed like he's going for a walk in the park!"

"Yeah, but the other half is dressed like she's attending the inauguration of a Kage," Shikamaru muttered. Ino stopped hitting him and tackled him in a hug.

"Aw, Shika-kun, you're so sweet! I'll give you another chance!" Over his shoulder, she sent a look of exultation to Sakura, who was standing next to a motionless, moody Sasuke.

Shikamaru sighed and detached Ino's arms from his neck. "Troublesome woman," he muttered. Ino rolled her eyes, but latched onto Shikamaru's arm. Shikamaru didn't pull her off this time. "Hey, Ino, do you want to look around? We're already here, so we might as well enjoy it."

Ino's face split into a big smile. "How much money do you have?"

Sakura sighed. "Come on, Sasuke-kun, let's go get a bowl of ramen. I heard some vendor yelling about free samples."

Sasuke "hn"ed. Sakura stared at him.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Hn."

"No?"

"Hn."

"Um…"

"Hn!"

Sakura glared at him. "I'm pretty sure that one meant 'ha-ha; _sucker_!' Am I right?"

"Hn."

Tenten stabbed a tree a kunai she pulled seemingly out of air. "Let's go, Neji! I'm sick and tired of Sasuke, _emo_tional avenger, 'hn'-ing, and Sakura, little miss sparkles and _koala bears_, doing this stupid lovey-dovey stuff. Come on, we are going to make out behind that shed! Now!" She dragged Neji by the arm towards a big shed. Neji shrugged and allowed himself to be pulled there.

"Who could say no to an invitation like that?"

Sasuke looked at Sakura. "Hn."

"This is annoying me to wit's end. I'm leaving," Sakura said abruptly. "Bye, Sasuke."

Sasuke? Since when does she call me _Sasuke_? Sasuke screamed frantically in his head. Oh, my god, there is something very wrong with this situation! I an never simply Sasuke! I'm Sasuke-_kun_!"

"Sakura!" he called, trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice. Sakura turned around, looking annoyed.

"What, _Sasuke_?"

Sasuke flinched. "On second thought, ramen sounds good."

Sakura scowled. "Yeah, too late! I'm going to meet that special person who I went on this trip for!"

Sasuke's jaw dropped. So this was a real person…hmm…Sasuke thought. There's only four people that she knows here - Naruto, Shikamaru, Hyuuga, and myself. Well…hmm……I'll interrogate Naruto first; maybe that idiot did something right for once and captured Sakura's attention.

----------

"Naruto."

Naruot turned around, his face red with embarrassment and anger. "Sasuke, you idiot! Can't you tell two people are making out in a dark alley?"

Sasuke growled. "I want to know what Sakura means to you."

"Now isn't the time, bastard. I'm trying to do something!" he gestured wildly to Hinata's bright red face.

"Um…m-maybe I should g-go," she whispered, pushing her two index fingers together.

"Hey, Hinata-chan, wait up! Just because Sasuke interrupted us doesn't mean we can't continue! Hinata!"

Naruto glared at Sasuke before running after Hinata. "Thanks a lot, Sasuke."

----------

"Bwah!" Ino screamed when she saw Sasuke pop up behind Shikamaru. "Sasuke! You - you - you - you - _avenger_!"

"I know," Sasuke said calmly. "Shikamaru, what is your relationship with Sakura?"

Shikamaru looked bewildered. "Er…platonic? Besides, why are you asking _me_? Sakura likes _you_."

"Yeah, I don't believe that," Sasuke replied shortly. "Wait…" he trailed off. "So all that crap she said about being friends two months ago was…crap?"

Ino sighed. "Did you really think Sakura's feelings for you would just disappear like that? And that she was serious when she claimed to be your friend? No! She's a fan girl, Sasuke-kun, and a hardcore one at that! She loves your powerfulness, and your coolness, and your patented Sasuke Smirk!" The corners of Sasuke's mouth were starting to twitch up ever so slightly, so Ino barreled on. "She will never stop loving you, never stop thinking about you, never stop stalking you!"

Sasuke's smile vanished. "Sakura stalks me?"

Ino rolled her eyes. "Well, she used to."

Sasuke shrugged. Before sprinting off, he turned to Ino and Shikamaru and said, softly, "Thank you. You've made me…realize something."

Ino and Shikamaru smiled at Sasuke's retreating back. Then Ino realized something.

"Does he even know where he's going?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I doubt it. Hey…" he began, looking away from Ino. "Do you think I'm powerful and cool?"

"Nah……you're lazy. But," she added, snuggling closer to him and giving him a peck on the cheek. "You have loyalty, and intelligence, and leadership, and………..sweetness."

----------

Sakura was sitting on a bench overlooking the Ramen Festival. She could see a little spot of yellow next to a patch of dark blue eating ramen together at one of the stands. She could see Ino's purple kimono with Shikamaru's classic pineapple head walking along one of the paths littered with dried pieces of ramen. She didn't know where Neji and Tenten were, but Sakura was sure they were off somewhere, together. Everyone had someone. Everyone except her.

"Sakura."

Sakura stiffened. She knew that voice.

"Sasuke," she replied calmly, trying to keep a tremor from escaping her mouth. "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke sat down next to Sakura on the bench. "Finding you," he shrugged. "So…" he began. "A little pig told me you still like me. And let me speak first before you try and deny it." Sakura huffed and closed her mouth. "Sakura……on Valentine's Day, you told me you wanted to be my friend. I…I guess that was enough at first, but now……now it seems like you want something more. And I can respect that decision, because I _am_ Uchiha Sasuke." Sakura snorted. "Anyway…what I'm trying to say is……well…" he sighed. "Alright, since this isn't working, I'll use a metaphor."

Sasuke picked up a leaf from the ground. "Pretend I'm this leaf." Sakura giggled and grabbed it out of his hands . She then ripped it down the middle. Sasuke's eyes popped open. He carefully picked up another leaf. "Er…I'm this leaf. You're this one." He showed her another leaf. "See, the Sakura leaf likes this one very much and the two leaves are good friends. But when the Sakura leaf finds someone else, someone who she wants to devote her whole life to and possibly even marry, the wind might blow her away from the other leaf. And then the Sasuke leaf will be lonely. So I guess what I'm trying to say is the Sasuke leaf wants the Sakura leaf to stick with him forever, because the Sasuke leaf sort of needs the Sakura leaf to keep him from getting...stepped on. The Sasuke leaf doesn't want anyone to take the Sakura leaf away. The Sasuke leaf wants the Sakura leaf to be at his side forever."

Sakura looked up into Sasuke's eyes. "Sasuke-kun…" she whispered. "I'm - I'm so sorry I got mad at you earlier; it was just spontaneous and I didn't mean what I said about the person I liked because that's you and - " She was cut off when Sasuke leaned down and kissed her. It seemed like fireworks were going off as Sakura started kissing him back and in reality, fireworks _were _going off. Across the streets of the Ramen Festival, people all around were staring in awe at the spectactular fireworks display. But for Sakura, nothing else registered to her. All she could think about was kissing Uchiha Sasuke. And then something happened. And then something else happened. And then something else happened. And then -

"OH MY GOD! MY EYES! THEY _BURN_!" Tenten screamed, covering her eyes. Beside her, Neji blanched and looked away. "SAKURA! SASUKE! PUT YOUR CLOTHES BACK ON!"

----------

A/N - This rating should really go up…

So, tell me if you like this chapter because I want to continue with this, with Halloween and Christmas. Thanks in advance!

Please leave a review!

- Lily in a Pond


	3. Halloween Part 1

-1If It Isn't Love, It's Friendship

By Lily in a Pond

Disclaimer: Do I look Japanese? NO. Do I draw superbly? NO. Am I a man? …Hopefully not, as this would cause _many_ complications.

Summary: A little bolt of inspiration strikes Naruto, and he gets the idea to have a Halloween party, complete with costumes.

To Nightshadow Dweller: Thank you so much for mentioning that! I didn't even notice it as I was editing, not even when I edited it a second time! Thank you!

----------

Two days before Halloween, October 29th, Naruto was struck by inspiration. Literally.

At Team Seven's training grounds, Naruto had been fighting with his clones while Sasuke and Kakashi had been sparring with each other (Sakura was volunteering at the hospital). Chidori Sr. and Chidori Jr. had been, predictably, using Chidori, the lightning-based technique that does quite a number on you. And when two extremely dangerous and talented ninjas like that use Chidori at the exact same time…Armageddon will happen sooner or later.

So to make a long story short, here's what happened in the span of only twenty minutes.

1. Sasuke and Kakashi charge towards each other.

2. The lightning blades meet and Chidori Sr. and Chidori Jr. are at a standstill.

3. While each is using all their strength to push their lightning towards the other, they both fail to notice that they are edging slightly to the right, where Naruto is happily beating up one of his clones.

4. In one last burst of strength, the two manage to electrocute each others' arms, and they fall back, exhausted.

5. They fail to notice the huge ball of lightning rushing towards Naruto.

6. Naruto's body is lifted into the air, and then dropped as all the lightning enters his body.

7. Naruto slumps down, body limp. Sasuke and Kakashi stare in horror, both thinking that they have killed Naruto.

8. Sasuke and Kakashi run faster than the speed of light, racing to the hopsital, where Sakura is.

9. Upon hearing the news, Sakura beats them both unconscious. Luckily, they are at the hospital, so they are rescued by Shizune and put on a bench outside.

10. Sakura rips three trees in half with her bare hands after bringing Naruto to the hospital. She drops the broken trees on the still-unconscious bodies on Sasuke and Kakashi on the bench.

----------

Naruto opened his eyes a crack and saw the color pink. The pink was very pink. Seriously.

"Sakura-chan! What are you doing here? I thought you were at the hospital!"

"This _is _the hospital, stupid," Sasuke growled from the corner of the room. Naruto looked curiously around the room.

"Really? How did I get here?"

Sakura rounded on Kakashi, who was rereading Icha Icha Paradise and looking completely calm. "This is all your fault! Naruto was already unintelligent! Now you've completely _fried _his brain! He has nothing left! And stop smirking, Sasuke-kun; you contributed to this result."

Naruto squinted. "What are you talking about? My brain is perfectly - OOH! LET'S HAVE A HALLOWEEN PARTY! - fine; there's nothing wrong with it."

Sasuke and Sakura stared. Even Kakashi lifted his eyes off his book for a second to look at Naruto.

"Really, there's nothing wrong - IT WOULD BE SO FUN! WE COULD HAVE COSTUMES! - I'm fine, Sakura-chan - AND ALCOHOL! WE _HAVE _TO HAVE ALCOHOL! - there's no need to worry. I'm perfectly fine."

"Er…Naruto? Maybe you should get a brain scan," Sakura suggested gently. "You know, just in case."

"Why would I want to - I WANT A HALLOWEEN PARTY!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs. " - do that? I WANT TO PARTY LIKE IT'S 1999!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Idiot."

"Let him have the party."

Sasuke and Sakura turned to stare in shock at Kakashi. "WHAT?!"

"We don't even know what the heck Halloween is, much less what a Halloween party is!" Sakura shrieked, slapping Naruto's opening mouth shut with one hand. However, you must remember Sakura has inhuman strength. With one slap, Naruto delicately fainted.

"We are not having a Halloween party," Sasuke said quietly, yet determinedly (how extraordinary!). "I am not dressing up in costumes or drinking alcohol."

"Why don't you kids just go to the library and find out what Halloween is?" Kakashi suggested with a smile. "I'll stay with Naruto and read him a story or something."

"Oh, no, you're not!" Sakura cried. "We know the types of stories you have! Naruto doesn't need more pervertedness from you; he's going to crack from both you and Jiraiya!"

"Yes, Naruto is - " Sasuke paused to think of the proper word.

" - Above the influence!" Sakura blurted out. "Now, since I do want to know what Halloween is, and I'm sure you do too, Sasuke," she said, ignoring Sasuke's glare, "I'm leaving Tonton here with you," she ended, pointing to the small pink pig who had nosed her way into the room. "Tonton's a good girl, isn't she?" she cooed, stroking her hand across Tonton's back. "Aren't you, Tonton? Oh, yes, you are! Such a good little girl!"

"Let's go," Sasuke said, sounding annoyed, tugging roughly on Sakura's arm.

----------

"Halloween, a western tradition exhibited mainly in America that is denoted by the wearing of costumes and asking for candy on October 31st. For further information, see All Hallow's Eve," Sakura read.

"Asking for candy," Sasuke repeated.

"Candy," Sakura agreed.

"Candy."

"Candy."

"Hmm……candy," Sasuke mused. Sakura's eyes widened.

"You're not seriously considering letting Naruto have his Halloween party, are you? I know I hit you and Kakashi-sensei really hard in the head an hour ago, but you couldn't have suffered brain damage from that!"

"Hey, what are we reading?" Ino's suspiciously cheerful, chirpy voice cut in. Sakura and Sasuke looked up.

"Ino? What are you doing here, I thought you couldn't read," Sakura smirked.

"Nice, forehead girl. I'm here to pick up a book for Shikamaru; he needs this nine-hundred page block of wood about medicinal herbs."

"Oh, you must be talking about the book that covered Konoha when it rained."

"Really? I thought it was the one that protected Tea Country from locusts with its thick cover."

"No, that was another one - a three-thousand pager."

Sasuke looked between the two. "…I'm leaving. Women," he muttered as he closed the door behind him.

As soon as the sound of Sasuke's footsteps disappeared and they couldn't detect his chakra anymore, Ino turned back to Sakura. "So what were you two really reading about? Dr. Naruko's Guide to a Perfect Relationship? That's a real book; I've actually perused it," Ino added seriously.

Sakura sighed. "We wanted to find out what was Halloween. Apparently - "

"I love Halloween!" Ino exclaimed. "It's that holiday where you dress up and go to people's houses and beg shamelessly for sweets!"

Sakura was momentarily speechless. Recovering, she managed, "Er…you've heard of it?"

Ino laughed dismissively. "Of course I have. Shikamaru told me and Chouji about it when he came back from that diplomatic mission a year ago."

"Oh, yeah, the mission with Temari and the Mist girl."

"Yes, that was the one," Ino gritted out tersely. "Anyway…are you two going to have a costume party or something? I hear the Uchiha Manor is the perfect setting for a huge blowout."

"We are not having a party," Sakura ground out between her teeth. "Halloween is a stupid holiday," she said, ignoring Ino's wounded gasp. " - in which _children_, not fifteen-year-olds, ask for candy, and idiotic people actually dress up in strange costumes."

"Fine," Ino sighed. As Sakura turned to place the book back on its shelf, she raised her eyebrows sneakily and murmured, "We'll see about that……"

----------

"Um……….I c-came to…s-see you, Naruto-kun," Hinata stuttered, loosely holding a bouquet of vividly orange tiger lilies. The now-conscious Naruto's eyes sparked.

"Hey, thanks, Hinata-chan! Are those for me?" he asked excitedly, peering over the tall iron bedpost. Hinata looked shyly at her feet and wordlessly thrust the flowers into Naruto's arms. Naruto grinned.

"That was so nice of you! Thanks!"

"Well, I'll leave you two alone," Kakashi said abruptly, leaving the shadows of the room and exiting quickly. Hinata blushed. It was just her and Naruto. Alone.

"So……." Naruto's mouth was suddenly very dry and he took a hasty gulp of water. "So, how've you been? I haven't seen you in a long while, ever since me, Sasuke, and Sakura got that four-month mission to Hidden Waterfall."

"I've b-been well," Hinata said quietly. "Akamaru's mate had s-some puppies and Kiba g-g-gave one to me. I've been t-taking care of him for three m-months now."

Naruto was silent for a moment. "Hey, Hinata? Can I ask you something?" Startled, Hinata nodded quickly. "Have you ever had the feeling of being so happy you want to burst out? Have you ever looked at someone and realized that something warm and fluttery is growing in your stomach? Have you been so stricken with obsession that it just seems…well, I don't know…but it just seems like the world can end tomorrow and you'll be happy if you can just see them smile, just once?"

Hinata looked down and pressed the tips of her index fingers together. "Well…Naruto-kun……it sounds like you're in love. Who is it?" she asked, her voice strangely strong.

"That's the weird thing," Naruto said, shaking his head. "I can't figure out who. She's like this shadow that appears before my eyes. I thought it might be Sakura-chan at first, but then I realized she and Sasuke were meant to be together…"

Hinata abruptly stood up. "I h-hope you get better s-soon, Naruto-kun," she whispered, before quickly exiting from the room. Naruto looked at the closed door in confusion. His mind whirled.

What just happened?

----------

"If we're having a Halloween party, it's going to be at my house," Neji said determinedly.

Sasuke smirked. "Right, Hyuuga. That tiny little chicken coop couldn't fit eight people even if it got rid of all those stupid duck ponds you have. The party's going to be at _my_ house."

Inner Ino did a little gleeful dance as she scrutinized the two prodigies. Her plan was working exactly the way she wanted it to! Though, technically, it wasn't really _Ino's _plan; Shikamaru came up with it (in 0.5 seconds, no less).

The plan Shikamaru came up with was unbelievably stupid. All Ino had to do was casually mention a Halloween party to Neji with Sasuke in the same area, and innocently wonder where they were going to have a party, as nowhere in Konoha was big enough. Neji, taking the bait, would pompously declare that his house was the absolute biggest in Konoha and even Fire Country (interestingly enough, the Hyuuga complex was supposedly larger than the daimyo's mansion).

Of course, that plan involved action from Sasuke as well. Fortunately, he simply _happened _to be eating ramen with Naruto at Ichiraku Ramen. Wasn't that lucky?

Ino definitely thought so.

After the plan was initiated and Neji took the bait, Sasuke was supposed to brag that his house was bigger and start an all-out war.

What really happened was that Sasuke bragged that his house was bigger and started an _almost_-all-out war with Hyuuga Neji. You see the difference?

Ino was now chuckling to herself with the sheer simplicity of it all. However, judging by the frightened and disturbed looks on Tenten, who was with Neji, Chouji, and Shikamaru's faces, perhaps Ino's laughter wasn't contained entirely to herself.

"My house is bigger," Neji repeated stubbornly.

"My house is," Sasuke fired back, the dots in his eyes beginning to spin crazily. Neji saw this and immediately started activating his Byakugan at a very slow pace, something he had learned from his uncle, Hiashi, about a year ago. Apparently, the slow revealing of the eye condition and the veins on the side of his head created more fear in enemies than instant-presto Byakugan.

As the two argued like a bunch of old wives on market day, Kiba and Shino arrived with Akamaru in tow.

"Hey, guys, what's up - oh," Kiba trailed off, noticing the activated bloodlines. "Well, we're just leaving. See you all soon!"

"We should've invited Kiba to the party," Ino whispered to Tenten. "I hear he's a real party animal." Tenten looked sorely tempted to chase, screaming, after Kiba.

"My house is bigger."

"My house is."

"Why can't we just have the party in the park?" Naruto asked through a mouthful of ramen.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Why can't we have the party in the park, he says," she scoffed. "Naruto, you idiot, you _have _to have a Halloween party at someone's house. It's a social rule."

Naruto frowned. "But this is going to take _forever_. It's so _intense_," he whined. "Hey, Sasuke, if you don't want your noodles, can I have them?"

Sasuke 'hn'ed, not tearing his eyes off Neji's. Naruto shrugged, tugged the bowl towards him, and inhaled it in no less than ten seconds.

"Hey, what's going on? Are you two having another staring contest?"

Ino mentally groaned. Why did Forehead Girl have to show up at a time like this! She screamed angrily in her head. Now her - ahem, _Shikamaru's_ - plan was foiled!"

Shikamaru turned to Ino and blinked in that slow, lazy way that only Ino knew what it meant.

Ino smiled in relief. Shikamaru had a backup.

"They're not having a staring contest, they're deciding whose house the Halloween party is going to be at," Shikamaru informed Sakura. As Sakura's jaw dropped and she placed her hands on her hips, ready to loudly declare that there was going to be no Halloween party, Shikamaru hastily said, "It's getting dark," and pointed to the clear blue sky. "You two should wrap it up."

"We are not having a Halloween party!" Sakura screeched. "What part of that do you not understand?"

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto cried joyfully as he spotted the white-eyed girl walking timidly towards them. "Come over here! I'll treat you to some ramen!"

Hinata shyly took a seat next to Naruto and they started muttering in such low tones no one could hear what they were talking about.

"Halloween is stupid! It's for children, not teenagers!" Sakura continued rambling, arms flailing everywhere.

"That's why we're having a Halloween _party_, instead of going around and asking for candy," Ino said. "Besides, what are you getting so worked up about, Sakura? We never said you were actually invited."

Sasuke and Neji's staring contest was put on hold as everyone "ooh"ed. Sakura's face turned bright red as she huffed and puffed, speechless. Finally, she stalked off, leaving craters for footprints in the ground.

"That wasn't very nice, Ino," Chouji spoke up.

"Well, I'm not nice," Ino grinned. "Besides, she'll come back. They always come crawling back to Ino."

"Jeez," Shikamaru groaned as he looked at the emotionless Sasuke and Neji, who had resumed their staring contest. "Why don't we just flip a coin?"

"That sounds good," Sasuke said. Neji glared as him.

"That's an excellent, well-thought idea, Shikamaru," he countered. As Sasuke opened his mouth to reply back, Ino elbowed him out of the way.

"Sasuke, heads or tails?" she asked. Sasuke attempted to stare the coin down with his Sharingan.

"Tails," he quietly muttered. Ino spun the coin with expert precision through the air.

"Heads," she announced.

Neji smirked. "I knew it. It was fated to happen."

As everyone rolled their eyes, Sasuke flipped Neji off and walked away.

"Well, that settles it," Ino said briskly. "Naruto, you and Kiba - remember to invite him and Shino - will supply the alcohol. Chouji, you're in charge of food. Tenten - oh, yeah, invite Lee, too; he's fun - you and Hinata will be change of decorations. And Shikamaru and I will be finding ways to soundproof the Hyuuga manor so the police won't arrest us for excessive noise. Everyone got their stations? Good. Fan out!"

As everyone dispersed, only Naruto and Hinata remained. "So…I expect you're b-be wearing an o-orange costume, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto paused halfway through a spoonful of noodle soup. "Whoa…how did you guess, Hinata?"

Hinata simply smiled.

----------

After the clock struck eight o'clock in the Hyuuga house, the guests started arriving, one by one. Naruto was the first. He was dressed in an unbelievably bright orange jumpsuit, similar to the one he wore on regular days. Upon entering, he proceeded to loudly and exuberantly tell Neji he was a car repairman. Neji quickly ushered him into the living room before his uncle found out such a troublesome, loud, and hyper person was to be staying at the Hyuuga compound for four hours.

Tenten was already there, for reasons she did not reveal throughout the entire night. However, as nearly everyone in Konoha knew Tenten practically lived with the Hyuugas nowadays, they paid no attention to it.

The weapons mistress herself was wearing a rather shiny costume - she was covered from head to toe with kunais and shuriken. Her muffled voice informed the guests that she was a suit of armor.

Ino and Chouji were next to arrive, meeting at the front door at the exact same time. What a coincidence! Ino was dressed in a rather indecent outfit consisting of a barely-there tube top, leather miniskirt, and outlandishly high shoes. She had also styled and curled her hair for the occasion. When Neji asked her what she was, Ino had simply shrugged and replied,

"A biker chick/prostitute/slut."

Chouji was wearing a colorful brown costume. He proclaimed he was a roasted, stuffed, and spiced chicken. Neji stared.

Neji was very surprised when Hinata arrived. Though he hadn't seen her all day, he thought she was somewhere in the house, planting flowers or something of the sort. It certainly is strange, Neji thought, that Hinata is a Hyuuga and somewhere else; and Tenten isn't and she hangs around the house all the time.

Well, isn't that an interesting thought?

Hinata was wearing a sparkling white angel costume, complete with halo and wings. Neji had sneered at her as she walked in and Hinata's plastic halo's light had gone out immediately.

A green-clad (celery) Lee tripped in enthusiastically, greeting Neji with a warm welcoming hug (Neji sealed twenty of Lee's tenketsu points in no less than 5 seconds while wrapped in the hug). Lee was sent nearly in tears over his rejected hug, to the living room.

Shino arrived with Kiba (they seem to be together quite often…) about ten minutes later. Kiba was mourning the loss of Akamaru, who Neji had strictly lectured about the day before the party about the consequences of bringing a dog to the Hyuuga house. Shino had opted for a business suit and tie, keeping his shades. Though he did not say anything, Neji fully suspected he was masquerading as a spy. Kiba, on the other hand, looked completely miserable in a ridiculously adorable cat suit with matching ears and tail. He growled menacingly at Neji when Neji dared to ask what he was.

Sasuke stomped in a few minutes after Shino and Kiba arrived, sneering at Neji. Neji was sorely tempted to slam the door in his face, but a look from Tenten made him reconsider. Sasuke was wearing a vampire costume with a large, wide collar - he was dressed in black velvet from head to toe. Neji noticed he wasn't wearing the usual fangs, but he suppposed Sasuke's Sharingan eyes, which were now activated, were frightening enough.

A minute before eight-twenty, Shikamaru strolled in lazily, hands stuffed in his pockets. He wore his regular clothes and insisted that he was a Genin pretending to be a Chunin (which, if you look at it skill-wise, is true).

As the party started and Neji slipped a record into the Hyuugas' extremely large music player, Ino began the countdown for Sakura's arrival. As the clock neared nine, she began counting aloud.

"Twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven…"

"…Negative fifty-five, negative fifty-six, negative fifty-seven…"

"Give it up, Ino," Tenten sighed. "She's not coming."

"She WILL come!" Ino retorted. "If she doesn't……then Shikamaru's going to get beat up tomorrow!"

Shikamaru blinked. "Well, that's fine by me, since I get beat up by you _everyday_," he said.

_Ding…Dong…….Ding……..Dong._

Neji had barely stood up to open the door before Sakura whirled, a mass of pink ruffles and lace. Ino smirked triumphantly.

"I was right, Tenten! She did come!"

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Well, now that everyone's here, why don't we play a game?"

"Hey, this is Hyuuga's house," Kiba interrupted. "Who made you hostess?"

"Ever since I told Neji I was pregnant and that he'd have to marry me," Tenten said smugly. Then she burst out laughing at the shocked looks on everyone's faces, including Neji's. "I'm kidding!"

Neji sat down heavily on the white leather couch. "I think I'm going to sit out whatever game you want to play, Tenten."

Tenten grinned, showing sharp, pointy, teeth. "Well, my dear friends, the game we're about to play………requires alcohol."

Kiba gasped theatrically. "No way!" he shouted sarcastically.

Ino elbowed him. "Quiet," she ordered. "Continue, Tenten."

"This game does not have a given name…….but for tonight, I'll call it………Drunken Secrets."

"That's a stupid name," Sasuke said quietly. Tenten rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. But you want to play, don't you?"

"I'm well above drinking games," Sasuke said seriously. "But sure, I'll play."

Tenten smirked. "Then, let us begin."

A few minutes later, Tenten came out of the Hyuuga's kitchen with a large platter loaded with little shot glasses that were already filled with vodka, tequila, and all sorts of alcoholic drinks. Neji appeared after her, carrying another tray of the same thing and holding four bottles of wine. Kiba and Naruto gulped as they looked at the drinks and Lee visibly paled.

"Lee, I think you should sit out this one with me," Neji said. "I don't think my uncle would like it if he found out tomorrow morning that the living room was completely destroyed." Lee glumly nodded.

"Alright!" Tenten cheered, placing the trays in the center of the circle they were sitting in. "What you do primarily in this game is drink, obviously. To start it off, I will throw a die in the air and whatever number comes up when it lands will the number of people skipped, in a counterclockwise direction. The person that falls short of the skip will have to drink the number of shots the die gave. If the number is an even number, that person will have to tell a secret. If it's odd, the person just drinks. After drinking and telling a secret, that person will throw the die and the skips will start from him or her. Everyone got it?"

They nodded. Tenten smiled. "Then let the game begin."

_Two._ Hinata took a deep breath as she reached for a shot of vodka. The others cheered as she downed it one gulp and again when she finished the second one. "I…I…started wearing bras when I was eight," she mumbled. The boys wolf-whistled as the girls patted Hinata encouragingly on the back.

_Five._ Shikamaru yawned as he drank the shots with expertise. As the others stared at him in shock and disbelief, he raised his eyebrows, lazily muttering, "What? My dad and I used to do this all the time when I was younger."

_Three._ Tenten quickly drank the three shots of tequila in rapid succession, wincing slightly as it burned rushing down her throat.

Four. The shots almost seemed to disappear under Shino's voluminous collar. He cleared his throat. "I sleep with a stuffed bee."

Everyone was too disturbed at this revelation to laugh.

One. Naruto grinned as he quickly downed his shot, smacking his lips afterwards. Sasuke shot him an annoyed look.

Six. Sakura grimaced as everyone's eyes widened. "I can do this," she muttered, clutching the hem of her frilly pink dress tightly. She kept her eyes closed while drinking and after the sixth shot, she nearly slumped with relief against Hinata. "……Alright, fine," she sighed reluctantly. "When I was little, my favorite color wasn't pink. It was _orange_."

Naruto choked on air. Sakura tried her best to ignore him, but failed spectacularly as she punched him painfully in the head.

Two. Kiba let out a whoop as he gulped down his two shots. "I like to watch my dogs mate!" he announced loudly.

There was silence. Then the group disintegrated.

"I am not playing this game anymore!" Ino announced. "If this keeps on going, some really…_classified_ information will get leaked out!"

"You're right," Tenten smiled sneakily. "So we'll play another game. Hmm…just off the top of my head, do you guys want to play 'Switch Costumes and Try to Guess Who's Who?'"

The others stared at her for a moment.

"Sure, why not," Sakura shrugged.

"I'm in," Ino added.

Tenten clasped her hands together and smiled toward the ceiling. "We're going to have a very fun time tonight………aren't we, my dear friends?"

----------

A/N - And that's the first part of Halloween! Hope you liked! Keep in mind, though, that there's another part of this crazy, wacked-out night in which

...Someone will get kissed...

...Someone will get drunk...

...Someone's heart will be broken...

...Someone will get jealous...

...and Relationships will be tested...

To Yukiko, Whipped Coffee (love that name!), sk8rsakura, ello, XXDragonheart6XX, hi, nibbles, SarcasticallyTroublesomeGirl, Pink Crescent Moon, Alusy, Hikaru no Yuki-chan, Kenji Hino, tenshii-chan, tennisxdork, shohei, joey, itachi's evil minion, Lt. RaIQ of the Boondock Mafia, and JaLye: I love you all! Thanks so much for your reviews!

Thanks for reading!

- Lily in a Pond


	4. Halloween Part 2

If It Isn't Love, It's Friendship - Halloween Part 2

By Lily in a Pond

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.

Summary: The second half of the night gets underway as Tenten suggest they switch costumes. Hilarity and drama ensues as mishaps, stolen kisses, and even a wardrobe malfunction occur.

At the beginning of the chapter, you have no idea who the characters are. But along the way, I'll reveal clues so you can figure out who's who. Little by little, I'll reveal who the characters are. However, at the end of the night, you should've figured out who's who, so I'll start calling the characters by their names.

Keep in mind that everybody traded costumes, so someone can't wear the same costume. For reference, here's the chart of the original costumes so you don't have to flick back to the previous chapter.

Naruto - car repairman

Sasuke - vampire

Sakura - princess

Shikamaru - Genin pretending to be a Chunin

Ino - slut/prostitute/biker chick

Chouji - stuffed chicken

Kiba - cat

Shino - Secret Service agent

Hinata - angel

Lee - stalk of celery

Tenten - suit of armor

Neji (I realized that I didn't include his costume in the last chapter so I made up a really lame one for him) - Hyuuga Hizashi

Now, onto the story!

----------

The angel stepped out of one of the Hyuuga's many pristine white-tiled bathrooms and fluffed her voluminous hair. It looked a little poofy in some places, but she didn't care. Besides, the angel costume looked pretty good with her coloring.

Pausing to admire her reflection in a shiny, polished mirror in the hallway, she smiled flirtatiously at herself in the mirror. She giggled quietly. This costume actually suited her better than the previous one.

----------

The princess stumbled into the living room, where a cloaked man and a car repairman sat waiting patiently for the others. She sat down heavily with a huff, picking at the pink ruffles on her dress. She hated this dress. It was so poofy and _itchy_! How did Sakura even move in it, anyway? Every single motion she made, a loud rustling accompanied it.

Sighing as she looked at the two silent men next to her, she reached for a cocktail stirrer and started twirling it idly.

----------

The person masquerading as a Secret Service agent strided impatiently into the living room, flipping his hair out of his eyes, which glowed in the dim darkness of the room as he realized that only three people, excluding him, were there, and that he would have to wait quite some time before the others arrived. He sighed and made himself comfortable on one of the couches, distancing himself away from the other three.

----------

The cat bounded enthusiastically into the living room, calling out a cheerful greeting to everyone there. The others in the room looked up at him, and resumed whatever they were doing before as if he had never even appeared. Frowning, he took a seat next to the Secret Service agent. The Secret Service agent turned away from him.

The cat shrugged. He was used to brush-offs from him. His eyes lit upon the candy stocked in an intricately designed glass bowl. After looking around furtively, he proceeded to shove handfuls of it into his mouth.

"Mmm…candy corn…"

----------

The suit of armor clanked noisily into the living room, where she saw a stalk of celery, a car repairman, a Secret Service agent, a vampire, an angel, and a princess sitting there. She frowned at the angel, and instead sat down next to the Secret Service agent. When he didn't turn away from her, she shot the angel a triumphant look. The angel rolled her eyes and looked away.

As she mentally exulted in her victory, she couldn't help but feel a little hot in the costume. It was just a little stuffy being covered with strategically placed knives, cloth, and shurikens, not to mention dangerous.

A few wisps of her bright hair were beginning to spill out of the metal mask. She impatiently blew the strands away from her face.

----------

The Genin pretending to be a Chunin pranced into the living room and attempted to sit next to the chicken. The chicken glared at him with such an intensity that the Genin, horrified, backed away and instead took a seat next to the suit of armor.

----------

The biker chick tiptoed nervously into the living room. As soon as she entered, she could feel all eyes on her. It was only expected, after all, in this costume. The costume showed nearly all of her and covered nearly none of her.

As she nervously took a seat next to the cat, she could feel her costume slowly slipping down. Quickly, she pulled it up, once again attracting the attention of all the men in the room. She blushed. This was going to be a long night…

----------

The person dressed as Hyuuga Hizashi was the last to arrive. When the angel asked (more like screamed) where he was, he shrugged and replied,

"The bathrooms here are so comfortable."

With his arrival, the rest of the night got underway.

At the food table, the stalk of celery and the vampire were chatting animatedly, the vampire gesturing wildly with (funnily) a stalk of celery.

Also at the food table, the cat was telling the biker chick and car repairman about his favorite food, but the car repairman didn't seem to be responding…or listening, for that matter.

The Secret Service agent and Hyuuga Hizashi were engrossed in a game of chess, with the latter clearly trouncing the Secret Service agent. The suit of armor and angel were watching with little interest for the game, focusing their attention instead on the men.

The princess and the chicken were talking in low whispers in a dark corner as the Genin tried to hear what they were saying.

All was peaceful until the angel suggested they put the Hyuuga's entertainment center to good use.

Then there was trouble.

During Mario Party 2, the Service Secret agent threw a minor temper tantrum after losing while the suit of armor tried desperately to restrain him from murdering the cat.

After discovering Dance Dance Revolution, the Genin pretending to be a Chunin proceeded to spectacularly kick everyone's asses with his ultra-super-youthful dance moves, speed, and coordination.

During Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Hyuuga Hizashi nearly died when the angel screamed and clung onto his neck in an attempt to ward off the evilsnakes on the screen.

As the twelve ninja contently watched the ending credits of Indiana Jones, Naruto had a great idea.

"Hey! Since Dance Dance Revolution was so fun, why don't we have a singing and dancing contest?"

The girls cheered. The boys groaned. The girls exchanged looks. The boys looked suddenly worried. The girls grinned. A moment and some ruthless tugging of the hair later -

"FINE! We'll play," the boys grumbled in unison. The girls cheered again.

Sakura, with her stellar moves, proceeded to crash and stumble around the stage while singing the song she was dancing to ("Upside Down") loudly. After this performance, Hyuuga Hiashi, meditating two floors up, requested a hearing aid.

After Sakura (who everyone applauded politely) Chouji followed with his rendition of "Candyman," which, surprisingly, was rather good.

Shino twitched when Hinata said he should participate, but Kiba jumped at the opportunity.

"I'LL DO IT!" he yelled and started shaking his _thang _everywhere. Tenten covered her eyes at the atrocious display of atrocity.

"Okay, that's it; I'm going," she interrupted. Knowing all her dance moves consisted of ballet-like steps, leaps, and spins, she choose a slow song, wowing everyone with her smooth, slightly cooing voice.

The girls sighed in pleasure as the last bars of Tenten's song played.

"Amazing…" Sakura whispered. The others clapped enthusiastically as Tenten took a bow.

Neji was next. He found it hard to follow Tenten's performance, but he managed to pull off a dazzling display of advanced chakra control, performing hip-hip and breakdancing moves seemingly without breaking a sweat. He and Akon were applauded as well.

The real highlight of the contest was Hinata. Choosing a song by the Pussycat Dolls ("Buttons"), Hinata was quickly horrified as she realized what the song was about. She turned paler when she realized she was going to have to dance to the song.

Ino, Tenten, and Sakura snickered in unison and pushed Hinata towards the center of the room. Hinata gulped and started awkwardly dancing and singing along to the song.

The boys were staring at her goggle-eyed as Hinata swayed seductively to the music. Then, just as she was feeling really into the song, Hinata attempted a twirl, and midspin, she threw her arms up.

Well……that wasn't the smartest move…

As the eleven ninja watched with horror and……pervertness, Hinata's top slowly slipped down, down, down to her waist in a perfect rendition of a pornographic video, and she fell down on the floor, landing her little spin in a very awkward position and somewhat…suggestive pose.

The boys gawked. The girls stared. The boys were enraptured. The girls were horrified. Then -

"OH MY GOD!"

----------

Sakura, Tenten, and Ino quickly ushered Hinata into the brightly lit bathroom.

"Oh, my god, oh, my god," Hinata repeated over and over, her breath coming in short pants. "Oh, my god!" she shrieked. "Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod - "

Ino slapped her with a towel. "Shut up, Hinata! You're - you're - _annoying_!" Hinata fell back, looking utterly shocked. "It's not that big of a deal, anyway; I've done it tons of times."

The three girls looked at her in shock. _"Voluntarily?" _Sakura screeched.

Tenten squeezed her eyes shut tightly, and opened them a moment later. "Back to the real problem. What are we going to do?"

"We're going to walk out of here looking perfectly fine, pretending that nothing extraordinary has even happened," Sakura said matter-of-factly. "What, do you think we're going to make Hinata flee in anguish?"

"Actually, I c-can't flee b-because this is m-my house," Hinata said in a small voice. "And it's all right…I'll just go out and pretend n-nothing happened."

"The boys aren't going to forget this," Tenten reminded them. "Are you sure you can hold the façade up for the entire night?"

"…I'll try," Hinata said resolutely.

----------

"Well, we're certainly never dancing again," Sakura said as she took a seat next to Sasuke. "See, didn't I tell you a Halloween party was bad, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke glared at her. Sakura looked confused.

"What? Oh, my - don't tell me you want to see it again!" Sakura shrieked, attracting the attention of everyone in the room. Sasuke's checks turned pink, and Sakura gasped dramatically. "You do! You are such a _pervert_!" As Sakura huffed and puffed away, Sasuke fumed silently.

Across the room, Neji and Tenten were having a shouting match that, mysteriously, no one else could hear.

"This is all your fault!"

"It's yours, too! I'm not receiving all the blame!"

"Me neither - Neji, I can't believe _your_ stupidity is going to make this night a disaster!"

"The night is _already _a disaster!"

"Yes - and it's all your fault!"

"Argh, how is this _my_ fault? I didn't know it was going to happen!"

"You have the Byakugan! Don't tell me you didn't check the appropriateness of the costumes!"

"Why would I want to stare at Hinata with my Byakugan on? And it's your fault, you women are supposed to know about the mechanics of an outfit like that! You could've prevented it by putting some duct tape on it!"

"Oh - you - mpmh!"

All heads turned as a thump resounded in the room. (How strange that two angry, shouting voices cannot be heard but a _thump_ can detected fairly well…)

Tenten's head popped up from the couch. She glared at them. "You - keep quiet. We're one year older, we get hormonal benefits."

----------

"Ino!" Hinata whispered. Ino turned around, her eyebrows raised questioningly. "Ino….I need your h-help…about kissing." Ino's eyes lit up excitedly and she immediately kicked Shikamaru and Kiba off the couch and to the other side of the room, making room for her and Hinata.

"You've come to the right person, Hinata. So, first of all, who do you want to kiss?"

"Er………….Naruto-kun…." Hinata mumbled. Seeing Ino's expressionless expression, she was confused. "Um…not to be rude or anything, but why did you not have any reaction to this?"

Ino sighed. "Hinata, sweetie, everyone in our age group and everyone from the year above and below knows that you've had feelings for Naruto since we were twelve."

Hinata looked shocked.

Ino blinked. "I guess some people are pretty ignorant. Anyway…about Naruto…" Hinata eagerly scooted towards Ino. "Well, first of all, let me remind Naruto never had a girlfriend and the only crush he had was on Sakura. She's _forehead girl_. You're definitely top-notch compared to her. And second, Naruto is a complete idiot," she said, ignoring Hinata's wounded expression. "The easiest and least humiliating way is to - " she paused for dramatic effect and Hinata leaned in closer. " - is to simply go up to him, proclaim your undying love, and kiss the hell out of that idiot." Ino was still giggling to herself when she noticed Hinata sprawled out on the ground, in a dead faint, her costume hanging loosely on her. Ino sighed. "And there she goes again."

----------

Tenten looked at the small girl with surprise. "You want me to sneak you out?"

Hyuuga Hanabi nodded. "It's really troublesome, but I want to go to Konohamaru's party tonight, and my father has officially grounded me for a week. Since you're a master of stealth - well - " she wrinkled her nose. " - maybe not in that dress…but you are one. You can help me sneak out."

"Well, why don't you just ask Neji?"

"He's been such a little goody-goody ever since father made him the heir, so he would definitely turn me in within two seconds of my asking," Hanabi said glumly. "And Hinata won't either, since she's been a goody-goody since birth."

Tenten nodded, understanding. "Alright. I'll do it. But - " she held up a finger, and Hanabi sighed, muttering something extremely inappropriate for an eleven-year-old to say under her breath. " - you have to promise me something." Hanabi sighed and nodded.

"Hanabi…keep your knees together."

Hanabi turned a bright red as she started sputtering. "I - I'm only eleven!"

"I know," Tenten said comfortingly, "but you're going to Naruto Jr.'s party. Konohamaru has inherited his grandfather's pervertedness and Naruto and his teacher's pervertedness as well. So just keep both feet on the ground and your knees together in case he tries to pull a fast one on you."

"Oh, he won't be fast if I had my way," Hanabi muttered. Tenten glared.

"This was what I was preaching about!"

"Yeah, yeah, let's just go already."

"Alright, but remember my advice. It could save your life," Tenten said seriously.

----------

"Okay…kiss Naruto…kiss Naruto…kiss Naruto…" Hinata chanted over and over, while walking slowly towards the cat and the Secret Service agent. "Kiss Naruto…kiss Naruto…kiss Naruto…" she repeated, getting closer and closer to the two. "Kiss Naruto…kiss Naruto…kiss Naruto…kiss SASUKE?!?!?!"

Hinata was thrown violently back by a furious-looking Sasuke, who was looking utterly shocked as he wiped his mouth continuously. "Hinata! What - why - what the - who - what - ARGH!"

As Sasuke stormed off into the next room, Sakura stomped (she does quite a lot of stomping, doesn't she?) over to Hinata and growled menacingly, cracking her knuckles. "This is not over."

"WHAT THE HELL?" screamed the cat. "Why'd you kiss the - the - the - oh, I can't even say his name anymore!" He skulked off, wallowing in self-pity.

"Yeah…there's definitely something wrong with you tonight, Hinata," said the stalk of celery.

"You've been acting very peculiar," the vampire chimed in. "Perhaps you should see a doctor?"

"THE ALCOHOL!" the Genin pretending to be a Chunin suddenly exclaimed. "Remember Hinata drank six glasses of vodka? The alcohol must've been infiltrating her mind!"

"Yes, that's it!" the celery exclaimed happily. "Hinata, we need to make you some coffee!" He and the Genin grabbed Hinata on each of her arms and marched her away to the kitchen.

At the other end of the room, Ino fumed to Shikamaru.

"She kissed Sasuke?!" she rambled, oblivious to the blank look Shikamaru had been sporting for the past five minutes. "Even though most of the boys are wearing masks, Sasuke has black hair! Naruto has blonde hair! Sasuke has black eyes! Naruto has blue eyes! How is Hinata that stupid?! Argh - I can't believe it! God, Hinata?! I thought Sasuke was going to kiss _Sakura_ first! And then Hinata came barging in and stole that kiss, not to mention broke poor Naruto's heart! The nerve of that - that - that - urgh - that worm!" she shrieked.

"Ino, shut up," Shikamaru snapped. "This is Hinata's problem. You don't need to meddle any more."

Ino huffed and puffed, but nothing came out. Finally, she stalked angrily away.

Shikamaru sighed "Troublesome," and beckoned Naruto out from his corner.

"Bad night, eh?"

Naruto gave him a look of pure incredulity. "YES," he finally growled out. "HINATA JUST KISSED SASUKE. DID YOU NOT SEE THAT!?"

"I think she was trying to kiss you," Shikamaru said nonchalantly, leaning back on the couch. "And since you and Sasuke were next to each other, she thought you were Sasuke and Sasuke was you."

"Maybe…BUT SHE STILL KISSED SASUKE!" he whined. "Why does Sasuke always have to come in and rain on my parade! He became a Chunin before me! He got a girlfriend before me! He started drinking before me! He even kissed Sakura-chan before me! And now, he kissed Hinata before me!"

Shikamaru was silent. "…Well, there's nothing I can do," he said abruptly, and stood up. Naruto glowered.

----------

It was half past ten and all the lights were out at the Hyuuga compound. By a stroke of pure lunacy, a catastrophic storm had rolled into Konoha at the last minute and Tsunade had sent out an announcement warning everyone to stay in their houses. Being the obligatory host, Neji had not-so-graciously offered everyone a sleeping bag. (Though the Hyuugas boasted a mansion of over twenty bedrooms, Neji already knew what his uncle's answer to that question would be, so he didn't bother asking.)

A soft crushing noise was heard as Kiba rolled over in his sleep. Sakura giggled as she turned to Ino, whose sleeping bag wad placed on her right. "I really hope that's not Akamaru," she whispered before dissolving into a fit of giggles, Ino joining after a moment.

A sigh was heard from Ino's other side. "Why do troublesome women always make it troublesome for me to get some sleep?"

Ino painfully elbowed Shikamaru in the ribs. "Shh! Some people are trying to sleep here!"

Sakura giggled. "Yeah, Shikamaru! Quit being so troublesome and disturbing our beauty sleep!"

"All of you, be quiet!" Tenten yelled from the other side of the room. "Geez, Neji, Lee, and I have a mission tomorrow morning and you guys are being so loud! Do you actually want us to die trying to assassinate a _squirrel_?"

"Tenten, if you ignore them, they'll be quiet," came Neji's soft voice from the same area. "Let's all go to sleep now…"

After a few minutes of silence, Hinata shuffled around in her sleeping bag. She turned to the body next to her. "N-Naruto-kun?" she whispered. "Are y-you awake?"

Naruto grunted in reply and rolled over so that his back was facing Hinata.

"I'm s-sorry if I upset you," HInata whispered. "I didn't mean it - "

"It's not your fault," came Naruto's uncharacteristically stoic reply.

"…Naruto-kun? Are - a-are - are you - y-you - " Hinata took a deep breath. "Are you jealous?" she said boldly.

Naruto sat up immediately. "Jealous? Me, _jealous_? Ha! I mean, it's _me_, Naruto,_ jealous_? I think not…"

"Oh…a-alright…" Hinata said, the brief burst of confidence slipped away. "G-goodnight then."

"Goodnight, Hinata-chan."

----------

That morning at breakfast (Neji had grudgingly acquiesced to Kiba and provided an assortment of food for them when they woke up), the noisy chatter at the table immediately dipped as Neji, wearing traditional Hyuuga robes and a scowl, walked in and stood at the head of the table.

"Is it really possible," Neji stated quietly, "that you ate, slept, and played at my house, and nobody informed Hiashi-sama about it!" he roared.

They were silent.

"…Want to train?" Tenten asked tentatively.

Neji looked at her with his piercing white eyes. "Yeah, sure," he shrugged. And then they walked out like nothing had ever occurred.

"Well…" Sakura began. "…That was weird."

"Hey, Hinata, can I talk to you for a minute?" Naruto asked as they resumed their eating. Hinata looked surprised, but nodded. She followed Naruto out of the room.

"Er……I know that I was a little on edge last night and it seemed like I was really angry…which I was," Naruto added as an afterthought. "I may have overreacted a little bit." Hinata inwardly rolled her eyes at that. "But what I want you to know is that I was only acting like a stupid jerk because I _was _upset about you kissing Sasuke. And I know it wasn't intentional or anything, but it just really ticked me off. I mean, I was supposed to kiss you first…not him," he said quietly, reaching over and tucking a strand of hair behind Hinata's ear. "I…….I….I was supposed to kiss you first," he repeated. As Hinata stared, transfixed, into his blue eyes, he leaned closer and closer to her. Their lips were only an inch away when Sasuke loudly slammed the dininng room door behind him.

Naruto immediately pulled back. If looks could kill, Sasuke would've been deep-fried a thousand times and cut into little bits and pieces with scythes.

"SA-SU-KE." Naruto ground out between clenched teeth. He took a calming breath. Then he exploded. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? YOU RUINED MY FIRST KISS WITH HINATA - AGAIN! IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOUR MIND? YOU DON'T INTERRUPT PEOPLE'S FIRST KISSES!"

Sasuke leaned back comfortably against the doorframe and smirked. "Hiashi-sama would like have a little talk with you about his daughter's well-being."

----------

A/N - Happy Halloween three months early! Next chapter: Christmas in Konoha!!

Thanks to my reviewers, XXDragonheart6XX, Pink Crescent Moon, Sony89, SarcasticallyTroublesomeGirl, Nightshadow Dweller, nibbles, and sasusakufan2357!

- Lily in a Pond


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